INNISFAIL - The multi-million-dollar replacement facility for Autumn Glen Lodge will now be known by a new name.
The name change honours the two soon-to-be demolished homes for countless seniors in Innisfail and the area -- the Autumn Glen Lodge, an aging assisted living facility, and the next-door Poplar Grove Court, a 16-unit independent living building.
The new name will be Autumn Grove.
"The self-contained people from Poplar Grove will move into the new building as well as the people in Autumn Glen Lodge," said Connie Huelsman, board chair for the Parkland Foundation, which manages the operation and administration of Autumn Glen Lodge. "We had a meeting with the residents and stakeholders, like staff, and we had three choices and that is the name they decided on. It fits the theme and spirit of the new building."
The other two name choices were Autumn Glen Grove and Autumn Glen Place.
The foundation and Huelsman made the new name announcement on Oct. 3. Construction on Innisfail's brand new home for seniors began just over a year ago, a project that officially began more than four years ago with a funding announcement in 2015 by the previous provincial Progressive Conservative government in partnership with the federal government.
The new $24.2-million Autumn Grove will be an ultra-modern replacement for both Autumn Glen and Popular Grove, the former a 58-year-old 62-room assisted living facility, while the latter had 16 self- contained units. Both became increasingly inadequate for both staff and residents.
The new home for seniors will be a glitzy three-storey, 74,000-square-foot lodge and independent living facility on the southwest corner of the current 5.74-acre property. The new home for seniors will have 60 new lodge units and 30 self-contained apartments.
It's expected Autumn Grove will be completed by June 30 of next year with residents from the old Autumn Glen and Poplar Grove facilities moving in a few months after. Autumn Glen and Poplar Grove will be demolished.
In the meantime, Huelsman, who has worked tirelessly over the past five years to get the project secured and moving forward, said construction on the new home for seniors is on time and on budget.
"It is really coming along good. Everybody is really happy. Construction is right on track for the end of June and we are already doing plans for what the move will look like," she said.
